Gokhan Onal

Turkish football has appeared to have faded into the dark since the successes of the Galatasaray in 2000 (UEFA Cup and Super Cup Winners) and the National Team in the World Cup of 2002 (3rd place finish), but Fenerbache are the bright lights leading them out of the tunnel. Domestically, they have won the last three out of four Super Lig championships and finally they seem to be improving in the European arena as well.

Not so long ago, in the 2001/02 season, Fenerbahce collected zero points in the Champions League Group Stage, although a group containing Manchester United, Lyon and Bayer Leverkusen cannot be said to be an easy one.

Despite an influx of well known talented players, success hasn’t come that easily for the Istanbul club. Despite the titles picked up at home, in Europe there was still little progress made. In 2004/05 they collected 9 points in the group stage, not a bad tally, but not enough to allow them to advance into the last 16. Instead they dropped into the UEFA Cup, but exited that in the Round of 32 at the hands of Spanish side Real Zaragoza.

The following season (2005/06), the 9 points gained previously was but a distant dream as they finished fourth in their group with only 4 points. Last season was even worse, failing to qualify for group stage at all, suffering defeat at the hands of Dynamo Kyiv in the final qualification round. Again the UEFA Cup beckoned, but again Fenerbahce exited at the Round of 32, being defeated by Luis Van Gaal’s AZ Alkmaar.

Fenerbahce can lay claim to having the best and the biggest club ground in Turkey. Sukru Saracoglu has a capacity of 52,000, steadily being improved and expanded over the years. The club has sold an average of 30,000 season tickets over the last few seasons and this has directly contributed to the wealth of the team. In the marketing arena also, the club has been one step ahead of their rivals with their megastores (Fenerium’s) popping up across Turkey and online.

Fenerbahce’s developing financial situation has allowed them to bring in players like Ariel Ortega, Alex de Souza, Nicolas Anelka, Stephen Appiah, Mateja Kezman and Roberto Carlos over the five years.

This season, following the lead of Brazilian players such as Roberto Carlos, Alex De Souza, Deivid, Edu Dracena, Marco Aurelio and Wenderson, as well as legendary coach Zico, Fenerbahce have embarked on a Brazilian style of play. The defence has also been tight though and in qualifying for the Champions League they won both matches against Anderlecht without conceding a single goal. Already we have seen Fenerbahce in the Group Stage pick up four points against Inter Milan and CSKA Moscow (away in Moscow, at home to Inter).

Zico’s Brazilian style uses the formation 4-2-3-1 with Serbian striker Mateja Kezman as the lone frontman. Using this system, although it seems to be working in Europe, both Zico and Kezman have taken a lot of criticism from the Turkish media. Kezman is finding it particularly difficult to play as the lone forward and although he has scored important goals against rivals Besiktas, and Anderlecht, his conversion ratio of goals to chances is poor.

It isn’t that Kezman isn’t trying, he generally tries to play with pace and power, always giving 100%. But missing easy chances has noticeable dented his confidence and this has impacted on his game.

Kezman though, is a big name and talent, to this end Fenerbahce’s board and Zico insist he continues as first choice up front. Some fans believe this is blocking the progress of a potentially great talent, young Brazilian forward Deivid, or that Deivid and Kezman together, are blocking the progress of Turkish forward Semih Senturk. Although not the big name Kezman is, Deivid has shown what he is capable of in performances against Besiktas in the Turkish Super Cup and against Inter and CSKA in the Champions League. Scoring in both of those games, Deivid is now the man of the moment with fans and pundits alike.

Despite competing well in the Champions League so far, Fenerbahce have suffered some difficulties in the Super Lig. They have won only four out of nine games and are five points behind the leaders. The reason for this can be traced to the team’s away form (they have not won yet on the road) and lack of power upfront. Until last weekends match (a 4-1 victory at home to Konyaspor) Fenerbahce had not scored more than 2 goals in any game this season.

Some players have pointed at the tactics of rival Super Lig teams as an excuse for their poor start to the season, insisting it is easier for them to play in Europe because all teams set out to play football and try to win the game. Whereas in the Super Lig teams will often put 10 men behind the ball an ultra defensive system against them.

Fenerbahce’s fans do not know how to react to the current situation. Some are happy, some are not. They have waited so long to compete in Europe and ultimately match hated rivals Galatasaray’s European trophy hauls, that for many, Europe is the priority. Some say they would not mind finishing 10th in the Super Lig if they could win a European trophy! They forget however, that unless they actually won the Champions League, they would not be in it again the next year.

Fenerbahce’s performances in Europe so far this year have been exactly what their fans demanded and the club has made great progress both on and off the pitch in recent years. One thing is for sure, although Fenerbahce are located at the very edge of UEFA’s European Empire, they are destined to play a central role in its future.